Mini Cooper’s PR Success: Sorry for the Spam!

April 15, 2013/Mayya Medved

Nothing says “sorry for the spam” like a can of spam!

In February 2013, a server glitch at Mini Cooper caused many subscribers to receive hundreds of emails. The company fixed the glitch but wanted to “make up for any hassle [they] might have caused” by sending a gift box to those who were affected. This made quite an impression on one customer who posted the package on a popular, social-sharing site, Reddit. The photos of the package went viral. Mini Cooper’s apology came packaged in a gift box with the words “We’re Sorry” on the front and included two chocolate roses, a roll of duct tape, Spam shaped stress ball and a letter. This was the letter:

Although the letter was sent to John, more than a million people have viewed it just on the original posting. It has been reposted and seen by countless other people across all social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon and more. In addition, many customers and fans of the stunt voiced their allegiance to the company through social media saying things like, “I love this company” and “What great customer service!”

For the price of the package and shipment, Mini Cooper was able to generate a viewership comparable to the Superbowl! These kinds of great marketing and public relations tactics are what set apart Mini Cooper as a great brand. Remember some brands that have fallen short in that department before, like Thomas Cook UK and GoDaddy? Do you think that if they had employed similar public relations tactics they would have gotten a more positive public perception?